Agitator



July 11, 1950 B. R. WINBORN, JR

AGITATOR Filed Oct. 26, 1948 2'Sheets-Sheet 1 July 11, 1950 B. R.WINBORN, JR

AGITATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 26, 1943 INVENTOR.

Patented July 11, 1950 AGITATORV Byron R. Win-born, J12, Meantime,Wislfassign or to Manitowoc Shipbuilding- Company, Manitowoc, Wis;

Application October 26, 1943 g nre' a 4 mass; (curse- 13 Thisinventionrelates to agitators and.is.par.- .tipularly'directed' to anagitator for dry clean.-

ers. 1 A In dry cleaners the sump atthebottomof. the apparatus collects.a quantity of sediment and it is desirable to agitate this sediment andget it thoroughly mixed .with' the cleaning fluid so that the cleaningfluid-may be pumped from the sump anddischarged or else maybe filteredand returned to-the sump. w

Objects of this invention are to. provide a novel form of sedimentagitator which is an articulated structure and formed Ofa pluralityrofelements with the. elements arranged for. easy interlocking to. therebyform a unitary agitator substantially covering the entirebottom of thesump of the dry cleaner and. to so construct the agitator that it maybeassembled by passing each element through a moderate sized. opening inthe top of the sump, the elements being thereafterinter- .locked witheach other after having been positioned within the sump. r

--An embodiment of the invention is shown in ,the accompanying drawings,in which:

- Figure 1 is aside elevation of a portion of a dry .cleaner. with thesump in section.v Figure 2 is'a fragmentary plan view of a portion-ofthe structure shown in Figure 1 with the top of the sump removed.,...;.Figure 3. is an enlarged, sectional viewon the ,line 3-.-.3 ofFigure 2 showing the approximately central element of the agitator withother parts of the apparatus omitted. Figure-4 is a similar view on theline 4-4 of Figure 2 showing a section of one of the remaining elementsof the agitator.

'Figur 5 is a fragmentary view looking on Figure 4 on the line 5-5thereof.

.'Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional viewshowing how the interlockingof successive elements of the agitator is obtained.

Figure 7 is a view corresponding to Figure 6 showing one step in theprocess of interlocking successive elements of the agitator. 7

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figures 1 and 2, it will be seenthat the sump of the dry cleaner has been indicated generally by thereferencecharacter i and is provided with a bottom or floor 2 and a top3 and side and end walls 4. The dry cleaner is provided, with a washercasing 5 withinwhich the washer drum, not shown, is positioned in theusual manner. Other portions of the dry cleaner have been ornittied forthe sake of clearness. it is the usual practice to completely finish thedown sumpand it is, therefore, a diflicultmatter'toprde .vide"anagitator which will sweep acrossthe en- .tire bottom ofthe. sump. andwill thus agitate all portions of the collected sediment and insuretheir mixture with thejdryjcleaning fluid, neither the sediment nor the,dry cleaningfluid having been shown in Figure. 1. It is also undesirableto provide a yeryjlarge opening in the top 3 of-the sump .through@whichthea gitator may: be in-'- serted.

.This invention ,proyides a .novel form er... an agitator which may beassembled through a moderate-sized hole. or opening Gin the top 3 of thesump, This opening may be oval; if desiredgas "generally indicatedin'iFigure. 2 by the dot 'and :dash linesand is providedwith aremovablecover I boltedto the top, ;a.suitable.gasket being pro- 'vide d asindicatedin Figure 1.;.The agitator" is proyided with'fan "approximatelycentral or intermediataelement' indicated generally by the referencecharacter A and with a plurality of sup,- cessive elements all of'whichare similar" and which."are" indicated generally by thereference.cha'racter- B. Thetapproximately central or intermediate element A isshown in section in Figure 3 and oneof; the other elements B is shown insection inFigur'e 4. It"wil1be'seenthat'the intermediate element A isprovidedwith a pair of spaced strap memlbers'ii which'are'weld'ed'orotherwise secured to a pair of endgdownwardly opening channel'-shaped'scraper members 9. The scraper menibers Qareeach provided withdownwardly-open in'g apertures Iii which have-rounded upper portions tofacilitate the insertion of a portion of a succeeding elementhereinafter described. "Also one of the channel-shaped scraper elements9-is provided with an upstanding lug I I apertured' 'to receive thethreaded extension l2 of atubu'lar member 13. The'threaded extension [2maybe a bolt-like member secured i n any suitable manner within. theforward "end of the tubeor rigid member [3. In thiswayit'is possible toprovide a pair "of nuts [4 on opposite sides of the lug M as shown inFigures 1' and 2 and'thus lock the rigidmember 13 in place. 'The rigidmember'or tube i3 'is secured, to a heavy, flexible cable- 15 at itsrear end. Thec'able may be inserted withjiri the tube I3 and Secured;thereto or maybe secured is the rigid member "i3 many other suitable'manner. The cable I5 is guided by means offfaj stationary tube IG'secured by means of a U-bolt l to the bottom portion of a V-shapedbracket 'I8 which in turn is bolted 'to the under sideof the top orcover-'3 ofthe sump l. The

reciprocate the agitator back and forth length wise of the sump l.

Each of the remaining elements of. the agitator are each composed of asingle channel-shaped scraper member 24 to which is welded end portionsof spaced straps 25. These straps are provided at their extreme forwardend with an upturned lip 26 and at their rear end with a down turned lip21. The down turned lip 21 is bent at approximately right angles,whereas the lip 26 extends upwardly at approximately 45. The lip 26overhangs a portion ofan aperture 28 formed in the scraper member 24 andit is to be noted that the aperture 28 similarly to the aperture I0,previously described, has rounded upper edges.

It is to be noted from Figure 2 that the straps 8 and 25 are arranged inpairs and are spaced from each other as shown in Figure 2 to thus holdthe successive scraper members in parallelism to each other.

It 'is to be noted that the lips 21 of all of the elements B fit withineither the apertures I of the intermediate or approximately centralelement A or in the apertures 28 of the successive or outer elements B.It is to be noted also from Figure 1 that the elements B on theright-hand side or forward side of the intermediate element A are turnedin the direction shown in Figure 4, whereas the elements B on theleft-hand or rear side of the intermediate element A are turned in theopposite direction. It is to be noted also from a comparison of Figures3 and 4 that the intermediate or approximately central element A is theonly element which is provided with a pair of spaced, channel-shapedscraper members 9,

whereas all of the other elements B are provided with a singlechannel-shaped or scraper member 'It will be observed from Figure 2 thatthe spaced .pairs of straps 8 and 25 constitute tie members which tiethe successive elements together.

Figures 6 and '7 show how the members interlock. It will be observedthat the lip 21 of an element B extends downwardly through the aperturell] of the element A. Exactly the same rela- 55;

tion obtains for successive elements B. They are hooked or attached toeach other in exactly the same manner as that shown in Figure 6. It isto is to be noted also from Figure '7 that when the adjacent portions ofthe successive elements are tilted upwardly, that'the lip 21 orhook-like portion of an element B will clear or just pass beneath thelip 29 of the intermediate element A or lip26 of an element B, theintermediate'element Aa'nd a succeeding element B, having been chosenfor illustration in Figures 6 and 7. It is to be noted also fromreference to Figure 5 that the apertures 28 and similarly, it is to beunderstood, the apertures H], are elongated so as to freely receive thetongue 2! of the straps or tie members of the elements B.

In assembling the device, the cover 1, see Figure 1, and the bracket [8are not positioned in the initial assembling operation. The elements Bare successively inserted endwise through the opening 6 into the sumpand turned into the position shown in Figure 2 and moved or slid alongthe bottom of the sump outwardly toward one end of the sump, forinstance, the forward end. As successive elements B are inserted throughthe opening 6 and are turned so that their scraper members 24 parallelthe scraper member of the preceding element B, the hook portions or lips21 of the preceding element B are hooked through the-apertures 28 in themanner indicated in Figure '7 by tilting the two elements upwardly attheir adjacent edges and are thereafter rocked downwardly. As theelements B are joined and are pushed towards the right as viewed inFigure l, the extreme ends of their scraper members 24 project or passbeneath side flanges or overhanging guiding flanges 50 secured to theside walls-of the sump. Thereafter the'elements B are inserted throughthe opening 6 and are turned in the opposite direction from that shownin Figure 4 and are slid along the bottom 2 of the sump rear-- wardly,that is to say, towards the left-hand end of the sump as viewed inFigure l. Successive elements B are hooked to preceding elements B inthe same manner as that previously described. As the elements B areassembled and are pushed towards the left-hand end of the sump as viewedin Figure l, the'extreme outer ends of their scraper members 24 passbeneath overhanging or guiding flanges 31 secured to the side walls ofthe sump. After all of the elementsB have been assembled'theintermediate or approximately central element A'ispas'sed-through theopening 5 as described previously for the elements B and is turned sothat its scraper members parallel'the scraper members 24 of the'elementsB. Thereafter the adjacent end ofoneo'f the forward element B and theforward edge of the element A are raised upwardly as shown in Figure '7,and the hooks or lips 21 or the adjacent element B are passed into theopenings I of the element A. Similarly, the rear group of elements B areattached to the intermediate element A by raising the adjacent edges ofthe elements Aan'd B and hooking the lips 21 of 'then'e'xt adjacent rearelement B into the openings Ii) of'th'e element A. After this has beendone, 'the bracket 18 is positioned andthe rigid member l3iis securedto'the lip l'l of the'intermediate or approximately cen-- tral member Aand the cover F of the sump l is placed inlposition to close theaperture 6.

'It will be seen that the scraper or agitator which is composed of theelement A and the elements B may now be recipr'ocatedback and'forthtowards the front and rear walls of the'sump'arfd will agitate thesediment and cause it to be inti- 'mate1y mixed "with the cleaningfluid. This is readily done by grasping the knob '23 and reciprocatingthe operating rod or member 2|- It is to be noted that the "flanges "30and 31 prevent the I elements "B 'from 'buckling upwardly and becomingdetached, and alsofit is to be noted that the rigid member 13 overhangsthe intermediate or approximately'c'e'ntral"element 'A' ari'd'tlfe nextadjacent rear element B. This also assists in preventing inadvertentdetaching of these adjacent elements. By having the straps or tiemembers 8 and 25 formed in pairs and arranged in spaced relation and byproviding the hook or lip 21 on each of the straps or tie members 25, itis apparent that parallelism of successive scraper members 9 and 24 ismaintained.

It is to be noted that the upturned lips 29 overhang the apertures andthat the upturned lips 26 overhang the apertures 28. It will be seenfurther from reference to Figure 6 that this construction preventsdetaching of one element from a succeeding element as long as theelements are in horizontal alignment. It is only when the elements aretilted up at their adjacent edges, as shown in Figure 7, that it ispossible to detach one element from a succeeding element.

It will be seen that an articulated agitator has been provided which iscomposed of a plurality of interlocking or joined elements which may bereadily assembled through a moderate sized hole in the top of the sump.It will be seen further that the device is very simple and is cheap tomake. It is highly efiicient in stirring up and scraping the sedimentfrom the bottom of the sump and causing it to be intimately mixed withor suspended in the cleaning fluid.

Further than this, it is apparent that it is not necessary to open thesump at any time when it is desired to agitate the sediment. All that isnecessary is to reciprocate the operating rod or member 2! as previouslydescribed.

Although straps have been shown and described as the members forconnecting successive scraper members, it is apparent that rods or otherrigid elements of this general type could be employed without departingfrom the spirit of this invention.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it isto be understood that such description is intended as illustrativerather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and isto be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. A sediment agitator for a rectangular sump comprising a plurality oftransversely extending scraper members adapted to rest on the bottom ofthe sump and arranged in a regular sequence, said scraper members beingof a length to extend approximately completely across said sump, aplurality of rigid strap members provided with angularly turned hookportions, said scraper members each having a pair of said strap memberssecured thereto and having a pair of apertures arranged to receive thehook portions of the pair of strap members carried by the next adjacentscraper member to thereby form an articulated agitator, and means formoving said agitator back and forth along the bottom of said sump in adirection transversely of said scraper members.

2. In a device of the class described, a box-like sump having a bottom,an articulated sediment agitator located within said sump and having aplurality of elements each element having at least one scraper memberextending transversely of said sump and a pair of straps extendinglaterally of the scraper member and terminating in hooked ends, saidelements having apertures for receiving the hooked ends of the straps ofadjacent elements to interlock successive elements, flanges carried bysaid sump and spaced from the bottom of said sump and overhanging theends of said scraper members, and operating means extending from theoutside to the inside of said sump and operatively connected to saidagitator for sliding said agitator back and forth along the bottom ofsaid sump.

3. In a dry cleaning apparatus having a boxlike sump for the cleaningliquid provided with a bottom, side walls and a top, an articulatedsediment agitator located within said sump and having a plurality ofelongated scraper members extending across said sump and resting on thebottom of said sump, said agitator including a plurality of elementseach including at least one of said elongated scraper members and havinga pair of straps projecting laterally of said scraper members andterminating in hooked ends, said elements having openings for thereception of the hooked ends of the straps of adjacent elements tointerlock said elements and having lips overhanging said openings toprevent detachment of one element from a succeeding element unless saidelements are tipped with respect to each other, and operating meanslocated externally of said sump for reciprocating said agitator.

4. In a dry cleaning apparatus having a boxlike sump for the cleaningliquid provided with a bottom, side walls and a top, an articulatedsediment agitator located within said sump and having a plurality ofelongated scraper members extending across said sump and resting on thebottom of said sump, said agitator including a plurality of elementseach including at least one of said elongated scraper members and havinga pair of straps projecting laterally of said scraper members andterminating in hooked ends, said elements having openings for thereception of the hooked ends of the straps of adjacent elements tointerlock said elements and having lips overhangin said openings toprevent detachment of one element from. a succeeding element unless saidelements are tipped with respect to each other, and operating meanslocated externally of said sump for reciprocating said agitator, the topof said sump having an opening therein whose maximum dimension is lessthan the length of a scraper member, said elements being individuallyinsertable lengthwise of the scraper members through said opening andbeing arranged for assembly inside said sump in interlocking relation.

BYRON R. WINBORN, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 883,983 Sollit Apr. 7, 19081,243,630 Ronning Oct. 16, 1917 1,441,813 Lees et al. Jan. 9, 19231,838,805 Bridges Dec. 29, 1931

